ICO: No "knee-jerk response to alarmist agenda"

The ICO spokesperson reiterated the need for them to be calm and collected while making a decision on data privacy issues.

The ICO had visited Google's premises earlier this year and had cleared Google of wi-fi snooping. At that time, the ICO did not find anything in the data that Google had inadvertently collected to suggest that a person could be identified with it. While saying that the data collected was insignificant, the ICO promised to await the findings of international privacy watchdogs and make a future assessment.

With Google's latest admission, the ICO said, "We have already made enquires to see whether this admission relates to the data inadvertently captured in the UK, and we are now deciding on the necess ary course of action, including a consideration of the need to use our enforcement powers."

They stressed that no body investigating Google Street View has taken direct enforcement action yet. In addition, the Metropolitan Police have also closed their case against Google.

The ICO spokesperson added: "We will not be panicked into a knee jerk response to an alarmist agenda."

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